NEW YORK—A study by Anderson Analytics for the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) revealed more than half of the marketing executives surveyed said their budgets will be cut in the coming year, and another 44 percent will cut or freeze hiring. On the positive side, nearly three-fourths think spending on research and development will stay the same or increase. Spending on market research also is expected to stay the same or increase, according to two-thirds of respondents.
“On one hand, they believe that in this economy they have to know their current customer well and keep them happy. But they also acknowledge the use of things like competitive intelligence and data mining as important concepts," said Tom Anderson, managing partner of Anderson Analytics.
The study was conducted online among 634 members of MENG between Nov. 15 and Dec. 2. This is the second annual marketing trends survey by Anderson Analytics of the 1,800-member group, which only admits marketing executives who make more than $160,000 annually and pass a screening test, among other criteria.
"We're living in a period of rapid change, even compared to last year," said Richard Guha, MENG chairman of the board and a partner at the Max Brand Equity consulting firm. "It has an incredible ability to concentrate the mind."
The overall trend result is a back-to-basics strategy by marketers who said the top four marketing concepts for 2009 will be customer satisfaction, customer retention, marketing ROI and brand loyalty.